20' hooper flatbed build

[ANGELO]

To start building content here ill post my junk. nothing real special but it gets the job done.

so heres from when i bought it in 2017. i paid somewhere around 1200
Hooper trailer by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

Hooper trailer by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

Hooper trailer by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

its a 18' deck with a 2' dove. weighs 2300 lbs and made by hooper trailers. That weird tongue and triple mobile homes axles is how it came from hooper.
The po welded some angle along the sides to widen it, but other than that its original. definitely needs work but the frame was solid.

put it to work almost right away

20170714_170450 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

other than ads some running lights and welding d rings on the side not much changed for a year. I did cut the brakes off and weld on flanges so i can use normal trailer brakes.

finally got around to installing a winch last year. i bought a 12k harbor freight winch that was on sale for less then the 8k

20190317_150832 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

used the some extra square tubing i had at work.

20190318_174054 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

20190318_174122 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

If you dont have a winch on your trailer yet, i highly recommend it. i Shouldnt have taken so long to install it.

first time testing the winch. had the truck on in less then 5 min. vs 30min + with a come a long
week before a 77 f250 put that hole behind the passenger tire. it took us a hour to get the 77 out of that hole. using the stock bottle jack from my f250 and a 9/16 wrench to turn it 1/4 at a time.. this truck also put another hole in my deck. that when i decided something needed to be done.
received_3075483115802880 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

i bought that ramp truck to use the ramp for this truck, but thats a for a different thread.
20190714_110225 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

All my current pictures are on my other phone at home. it looks like a completely different trailer now.
But im not sure what i want to do. im between sell it and buy a 30ft gooseneck, sell it and buy a similar newer bumper pull with tandem 8 lug axles. or buy 8 lug axles for this one

 

[YotaAtieToo]

I actually own a hooper 16' 7k with the angle iron sides and expanded ramp. I always hated this style of trailer. I got this for a great deal from 2big bronco and actually use the shit out of it. It's extremely average build quality

I'm surprised you haven't popped those shells off the clamps with 3 axles on that short of a trailer.

It would be hard for me to justify putting new 8 lug axles, wheels, tires and suspension under that trailer.

But also, a 14k 20' trailer is expensive, so I can see your dilemma.

​​​​​

 

[TRINDU]

I wouldnt waste any more time/money on that trailer. While I love my lowboy goose, a 18-20ft bumper pull is invaluable. If you have the space/skills you could build another 14k bumper pull for $2500-ish and buy a GN for anything heavy/long.

 

[ANGELO]

I wouldnt waste any more time/money on that trailer. While I love my lowboy goose, a 18-20ft bumper pull is invaluable. If you have the space/skills you could build another 14k bumper pull for $2500-ish and buy a GN for anything heavy/long.

the issue is price. used trailers dont seem to be worth it. a 5 year old decent brand trailer is the same price as new. a 10 year old costs what a 5 year old trailer should.. I dont really want a new trailer, i like the fact i can leave my trailer unlocked and no one will even think about stealing it.
I want a gooseneck just because lol. with a 30' i should be able to just fit 2 broncos. theres been many times my 20 has been to short. Also i dont know anyone, myself included that has a gooseneck hitch. so i would then have a good reason to say no to friends who want to borrow it.
I would be fine with another 20' bumper pull, but the triple axles have to go. to much maintenance and my bronco barely fits because of the wheelbase.

the main reason for the dilemma for a new trailer is because of how this one sits now.
I had to redeck it. there was no way around it. I dont remember what i paid for the decking but it wasnt cheap for 2x10x20s. when cut the deck off i found the reason why boards where snapping, and it wasnt rotted boards.

20190729_182816 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

20190729_190822 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

the crossmembers had 28" spacing!! the very front one had a 30" spacing. no wonder the would snap. I couldnt put the decking back like that but i really didnt want to put this much time into this trailer.
So I welded a extra crossmember between every original one. bringing the spacing around 14" some of them were more or less that that do to the originals.
I didnt plan of painting it and i really didnt want to. But with everything stripped off, the bear metal crossmembers and how bad it currently looks i decided ill buy a couple quarts of rustolium and do a quick paint job. I brought a diesel compressor home, and used my harbor freight sand blaster to blow any loose rust or paint off. I did the entire trailer but I did not go to bare metal.
Then sprayed a couple coats of their primer and a couple coats of a grey top coat. The gray wasnt as dark as i was hoping but it looks way better then before.

20190812_163125 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr


20190824_101022 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr
I also added 2 spare tire winches.

20190824_101029 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

And some expanded metal up at the tongue. Also put a better drop let jack in, one that doesnt hit my tailgate.

20190824_101034 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

20190824_101039 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

20190901_113347 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

20190901_113352 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

I sprayed both sides of the boards with waste diesel oil and bolted them down every crossmember with galvanized carage bolts alternating side to side.

So now I dont know, do i Spend a few thousand on 8 lug stuff? do I buy a used 8 lug trailer and have to redo everything? Or just go buy a new one?

 

[ANGELO]

I actually own a hooper 16' 7k with the angle iron sides and expanded ramp. I always hated this style of trailer. I got this for a great deal from 2big bronco and actually use the shit out of it. It's extremely average build quality

I'm surprised you haven't popped those shells off the clamps with 3 axles on that short of a trailer.

It would be hard for me to justify putting new 8 lug axles, wheels, tires and suspension under that trailer.

But also, a 14k 20' trailer is expensive, so I can see your dilemma.

​​​​​

You have a picture of yours? idk if id call it a average build, id probably put it little lower than that lol.
I havnt had any issues with the mobile home axles. they definitely arent as bad as the forums said they would be. But I would probably not own them again

 

[YotaAtieToo]

So I made a double post, but I don't know how to delete the emoticons






I can't find a Pic of the trailer, I was making a joke about it being "extremely average" its not the worst I've seen in the cheap trailer range. It's just your basic 16' landscape trailer.